Hybrid Theory
by Osan the Fox
Summary: The couples of Junjo Romantica and Sekai-Ichi Hatsukoi are cat boys! Called "Hybrids" these cat boys have a rough life full of hardship and discrimination as Misaki finds out after his beloved big brother dies and he is sold into sex slavery only to be freed that night by trafficking victim of 7 years, Ritsu. During the chaos of escape, the two find sanctuary in a welcomed place...
1. Chapter 1

INTRODUCTION!

First let me just say that this is the first fanfic I've written on this site. I'm not really a big user, but I've started to read some interesting stories and I decided to try writing some new fanfics here. I'll also let you all know that I love to write and I will write whatever I want regardless of how many hate comments I get for it so feel free to post any comments whatsoever, I've heard it all and I can say with absolute confidence that it won't bother me. I welcome constructive criticism that isn't served with a side of self-superior assholic-ness. And as the former captain of the debate team, if you do want to be an asshole to me, you will receive the same thing in kind so don't start what you can't finish.

Now onto my fanfic itself, I have three jobs and can't always find the time to write and post chapters or even respond to PMs immediately but don't get discouraged as I've never abandoned a fanfic before. I've been reading some pretty good Junjo Romatica fanfics by Mimi Gelato on this site and I decided why not write one of my own?

I'm really into the whole Neko characters thing and mpreg too. Junjo Romantica is my fave thing ever and Usagi and Misaki are fucking adorable! So this fanfic is going to be a Neko character fanfic and will later turn into an mpreg. But I don't want to leave Sekai-Ichi Hatsukoi (The World's Greatest First Love) out so it'll be a cross over. I know a lot of people hate cross overs, but I love them and as I'm the writer I'm doing it.

By the way, as my profile mentioned, a lot of the stories I do can get pretty dark, but life is dark so why not have a realistic fanfic (although I'm not sure how realistic it is when it's about cat boys…) In this story cat boys are called Hybrids (hope that doesn't trigger anyone's Hybrid Child flash back, the less said about that garbage the better) and there are Hybrids who have female organs for baby making and those ones are called Chimeras. I decided that I wouldn't make all of the uke Chimeras as that seems like a cop out, so the only Chimeras are going to be Misaki, Ritsu, Hiroki, Chiaki, Takafumi, and Shinobu. Why those six? You may ask, simple, I hate Shouta and Kou and Ryuichiro and Kaoru and by the way why does everyone always refer to each other by their last names? In Junjo Romantica Usagi calls Misaki by his first name with no honorifics, Misaki calls Usagi by a nickname, and yes with honorifics, but a nickname shows familiarity, more so than a first name. Nowaki uses a nickname for Hiroki, so the same thing there and Hiroki has always called Nowaki by his first name just like Usagi does to Misaki. Miyagi calls Shinobu by his first name and sometimes uses a cute honorific, Shinobu does call Miyagi by his last name, but I would too if I was Shinobu just because it's better than calling him Yoh. Ryuichiro calls Kaoru by his last name, though apparently as children he called him by his first name, so why stop? And Kaoru does call Ryuichiro by his first name, just with the "sama" honorific. But everyone else calls each other by their last names in The World's Greatest First Love and it's so annoying to me! I'm just like, "you're already fucking! How much more familiar do you have to get with a person before you can call them by their first name?!" Especially Yoshiyuki and Chiaki, twenty-eight years and you guys can only call each other by your first names (sometimes) while you're doing it?!

Well, anyway I hope you enjoy the story, I'll start posting chapters the next time I'm online, for now I gotta make up for lost time and check out the latest chapters from Mimi Gelato's fanfic.


	2. Chapter 2

For seven years the only family that Misaki had was his brother, Takahiro; after their parents died in a traffic collision while driving home too fast in the rain when Misaki was eight, Takahiro had taken it upon himself to raise the boy. Sadly Takahiro had also met his end in a traffic collision only seven years later, leaving Misaki all alone at the age of fifteen.

The moment that the news of Takahiro's death spread, Misaki's estranged aunt came for the boy. Misaki was a Hybrid, a human with cat ears and a cat tail, and there was a high demand for Hybrids in the sex trafficking industry. Misaki was instantly sold by his aunt and taken away by intimidating men to a place of unadulterated horrors where he saw Hybrids like himself being drugged and sold off to vicious old people with a wolf like madness in their eyes, while other rooms had Hybrids that were being rapped, experimented on, tortured, and even mutilated. The sights were so terrible that Misaki was too scared to even cry; he almost didn't even notice that he was being stripped of his clothing and shoved into another room.

The room was dimly lit and held another Hybrid who appeared to be several years older than Misaki and it looked as though he had been there for a long time. "You won't be here long, someone will come for you real soon." The vile man sneered at Misaki before he locked the two Hybrids in the room.

The older Hybrid waited until after the man left before he pounced on the unsuspecting boy. Misaki was about to scream when the Hybrid quickly covered his mouth with his hand, "Don't you want out?" The Hybrid's voice was coarse and weak, but Misaki could still understand him and, while unsure of what the older Hybrid was getting at, he nodded.

"I can't promise your freedom, or even my own, but it's a chance and I'm taking it, will you?" he asked as he looked down at Misaki who nodded once more.

"I'm Onodera Ritsu. You don't have to be afraid of me." He said as he slowly removed his hands from Misaki's mouth.

"I'm Takahashi Misaki." Misaki returned as Ritsu let the kitten up and moved towards the door. He motioned for Misaki to draw near and he complied.

"They'll see us immediately, but you must keep running and no matter how hopeless you think the situation is, never believe that they will catch you." Ritsu warned.

Misaki's legs were shaky, but he was determined to escape. Ritsu revealed that he had wedged a credit card between the lock on the door preventing it from sealing them in, and just thin enough to not be noticed. Ritsu grabbed the handle and peered outside, "Get ready." He whispered to the trembling boy.

He paused only for a moment before he threw the door open and bolted with Misaki not far behind him. Just as Ritsu expected, their flight was noticed instantly and men began shouting all around them and countless hands reached out for them. The Hybrids had to run with their tails close to them so as to prevent someone from grabbing them and the two were nearly taken aback when they managed to reach the exit. Once outside they made off in different directions. Misaki had actually wanted to follow Ritsu as he didn't know where to go, but he was too afraid to turn back and go after him.

Misaki hurried onwards and realized that the angry voices were growing faint; however, he knew that the men had vans and were probably in the process of chasing them down with their vehicles. Misaki discerned that he could never outrun a speeding van and he started to slow his pace. His legs hurt, his chest burned, his head was pounding, and his feet were cut up from running in the alleyways; he knew he couldn't keep going and that it was only a matter of time before he was caught again.

" _Why is this happening to me?"_ Misaki struggled to fight back the tears that were clouding his vision as he continued to vainly stumble along.

As he was about to sink to the ground, a hand shot out and dragged him into the darkness of a doorway. He was about to scream when the person pressed the kitten to his chest firmly, "Quiet."

Misaki froze upon hearing the man's voice and drinking in a scent that was all too familiar to him. He was about to speak when the sound of a van rushing by silenced him instantly. The van was swiftly followed by two others and then the atmosphere became eerily silent.

"Are you alright, Misaki?" the man found his voice before the boy did.

"Usagi-san?"

"You're naked? Here put my coat on." The older Hybrid took his coat off and wrapped it around the shaky kitten.

"What are you doing here, Usagi-san?"

"I came to find you. I knew that woman would have sold you the second that Takahiro died, but I got there just as those men were taking you away. I tailed them and I was trying to think of a way to free you. I'm sorry I was too late to prevent you from being taken here; you must have seen some horrible things. Can you walk?"

"My feet are all cut up."

"It's alright, I'll carry you. Wrap your arms around my neck."

Misaki did as he was told and the Hybrid carried the kitten in his arms to his car that was parked not too far away from them. "Ah, Usagi-san! I'll get blood all over the car."

"The car can always be cleaned later; right now I'm taking you to a clinic." Usagi said as he placed the boy in the back seat so he could hide from view before he hurried into the driver seat and sped off.

Misaki was still terrified, but he started to relax as he realized that he was with Usagi. Misaki had known Usagi since he was five years old. The older Hybrid had been friends with his big brother, Takahiro since they were in high school and had been a near constant presence in Misaki's life. In fact, Misaki was the reason why Usagi had his present nickname. Usagi's real name was Usami Akihiko, but Misaki had stumbled when he tried to pronounce "Usami" and said "Usagi" instead, and Takahiro thought it was so cute that he also took to calling his best friend "Usagi" as well. In return, Usagi gave Misaki the nickname of "Misa-kitty" to be even with the boy. Neither hated their pet names though.

Misaki was surprised to see the man however as he had suddenly stopped coming over around two years ago. He wasn't sure why it happened as he knew that Usagi and Takahiro hung out together all the time, but for some reason, Usagi stopped coming over to see him. Misaki had been devastated by the Hybrid's sudden absence as he was actually in love with him, and had been for years. Seeing the man for the first time in two years, and having that man be the one who found him and was so determined to take him away from that horrible place, made Misaki realize how deeply he still loved the Hybrid.

Misaki was drawn away from his thoughts as Usagi pulled up to a Hybrid clinic. He carried Misaki inside and walked over to a nurse who hadn't noticed them at first, "Is Kusama-sensei in?"

"Yes, I'll go get him." She responded and motioned towards the chairs before she left them.

Usagi sat down but kept Misaki in his lap, he seemed very tense to Misaki as if he were ready for something to try to snatch the kitten from his grasp. _"I wonder if Usagi-san had been worried about me. Is that why he's like this?"_

Misaki stayed silent for a while, but as all of the events of the day sank in, he finally started to release the tears he had fought away for so long. "Misaki? Hey, what's wrong?"

"I really want my brother." Misaki sobbed.

"I know. I miss him too. It's my fault you ended up in a place like that, I'm sorry. I'm not Takahiro, but I promise I'll protect you in his place from now on. Please don't cry, Misa-kitty."

Misaki sniffed and started to wipe away his tears upon hearing Usagi use his pet name and the man entwined their tails as he purred to comfort the kitten. _"Usagi-san is still so kind."_

"Usami-san." Misaki looked up to see a young and very tall doctor. He was so tall that Misaki was more surprised by the man's height than the fact that he was another Hybrid.

"This is Takahashi Misaki. He escaped from a trafficking ring and his feet are cut up."

"I'll take a look at him."

Usagi stood up as he explained to Misaki, "That's Kusama Nowaki. I know him through my childhood friend, Kamijo Hiroki. Despite being so young, he's actually a prodigy so you can trust him."

Misaki started to feel more at ease and Nowaki lead them into an examination room and Usagi set Misaki down on the table. Nowaki handed Misaki a gown to wear and the boy removed the coat and put the gown on while Usagi tied the gown in the back for him.

Nowaki took Misaki's vitals first before he examined his feet, "A couple gashes look deep enough for stitches, but it doesn't look like anything too bad. I'll give him some injections though to make sure he doesn't get sick from the cuts and I also want to test him for some diseases. Running barefoot in an alleyway, he could end up with any number of things."

Nowaki numbed Misaki's feet and started to remove all of the bits of debris and glass chips while Usagi tried to distract the kitten so he wouldn't be tempted to watch. After pulling out the last bits, Nowaki disinfected the cuts and put a few stitches where the cuts were the deepest and afterwards he bandaged the boy's feet. Knowing that the injections and the tests were next made Misaki uneasy as he had a fear of needles, and Usagi sensed the boy's anxiety and became impatient, "Can I take him home now?" Usagi asked evenly, but Nowaki noted a hint of annoyance.

"That's the last shot, and I have all I need, but now that Takahashi-kun is fifteen, there's something I want to check."

Usagi's tail tip twitched in suppressed irritation while Misaki was unsure of what the man could be referring to. Nowaki left, but returned soon after with an unfamiliar machine in tow. "Usagi-san?" Misaki became nervous at the sight of the machine.

"It's fine, Misaki, it's just an ultrasound. He's checking to see if you're a Chimera. Now that you've almost reached sexual maturity, if you're a Chimera you'll have a developing womb and he'll be able to see it with this."

Nowaki handed Misaki a paper sheet to place on his lap and the boy pulled up his gown to reveal his stomach. Nowaki applied some gel to Misaki's lower abdomen and Misaki was eager to see what the screen would show, but he couldn't tell what any of the images he was looking at were. Nowaki searched for a moment before he suddenly halted, "There." He pointed at the screen, "That's a womb."

"I'm a Chimera?"

"Yes. The womb is still developing, but it looks healthy. You'll probably be very fertile once you reach sexual maturity."

"When will that be?" Misaki blushed with embarrassment upon realizing he had asked that question out loud.

"Once you turn eighteen you'll experience your first heat cycle at that point your womb will be fully developed and you'll reach sexual maturity." Nowaki explained as he wiped the gel off of Misaki and the kitten lowered the gown and removed the paper sheet as he sat back up.

" _I can have kittens with Usagi-san!"_ Misaki smiled a little at the thought.

"Now can I take him home?" Usagi's slightly peeved voice pulled Misaki from his thoughts.

"If Takahashi-kun feels alright going with you then he can."

"Mm! I wanna go with Usagi-san."

"Very well then. Make sure to change the bandages on his feet every day and watch for signs of infection. I'll call you when I have the results of Takahashi-kun's tests."

Usagi decided to let Misaki wear the hospital gown and he carried Misaki back out to the car. Rather than placing him in the back seat, he set Misaki down on the passenger seat instead. Misaki felt a small thrill at getting to go home with the man he loved, but a dark thought sobered him, _"No… I won't get to have kittens with Usagi-san, because Usagi-san loved Brother. It must be so painful for him to have lost the man he loved and to be forced to take care of the little brother he left behind. I wish I could make him feel better."_

While Misaki got lost in his depressing thoughts, Usagi drove into the parking garage of his apartment complex, and the boy shook the thoughts from his head as Usagi came around to get him and Misaki tried not to blush as the man carried him to his apartment. As he carried the kitten he asked, "Are you hungry, Misaki? What would you like to eat?"

"Actually I'm pretty tired. I just want to go to sleep." Misaki wanted the day to end, he was depressed at the passing of his brother, anxious at the thought of what could have happened to him back at that horrible place, fatigued after being poked and prodded at the clinic, and frustrated that he was being taken care of by the man he loved fruitlessly, and he just wanted to cry.

"I understand. I'll help you shower and then you can go to bed. You can't take a bath with your feet like this so unfortunately you'll have to settle for showering, but I'll help you keep your feet dry."

"Okay." Misaki mumbled, _"I wonder if the water from the shower will disguise my tears so long as I keep my bangs down and I don't sob."_ Misaki thought to himself.

Usagi untied Misaki's gown once they were in the bathroom and Misaki removed the uncomfortable material. As he took the gown off and tossed it aside, he noticed that Usagi was also stripping and the kitten's heart began to race, _"Ah, is Usagi-san going to shower too? Or maybe he just doesn't want to get his clothes wet while he keeps my feet elevated. When I was little, I used to take baths with Usagi-san sometimes if Brother was too busy and my parents were gone, but I was such an innocent kitten back then that I never even looked at Usagi-san. Would he notice if I looked?"_

Misaki found a chance to peep at Usagi and broke out in a dark blush, _"Usagi-san is circumcised like me! We have the same anatomy! Somehow, that makes me feel closer to Usagi-san."_ Misaki tried to stop thinking inappropriate thoughts as he was worried that the older man would notice his flushed face.

Usagi held Misaki's ankles to keep his feet elevated away from the water and once Misaki finished his shower, Usagi handed him a towel to dry off with while he also showered. After he was done, Usagi left for a moment to get Misaki a shirt to wear for the night, "Sorry I don't have anything else that will fit you. I'll go to the store later on to get a set of clothes for you to wear until we can get your clothes back or we can go shopping, personally I don't mind the latter, but I know you'd scold me for 'wasting money' just like Takahiro does…" Usagi let his voice trail off as he recalled his friend's death just hours ago.

Misaki bit his lip hard as tears threatened his eyes, and Usagi kept his hand to his mouth as he also tried to push back his emotions, "I'm sorry, Misa-kitty."

Misaki heard Usagi's voice break slightly, and knowing the pain the older man had to have been feeling caused his tears to fall, he couldn't stop them. _"I didn't want to cry in front of Usagi-san, dammit!"_

Usagi wrapped his arms around the boy and hugged him tightly. Misaki was surprised to feel Usagi's own tears falling on him and suddenly his own pain ebbed to a dull throb while a need to comfort the older man took hold in its place. When Usagi felt the kitten petting his head, he quickly realized that Misaki was putting his own pain aside to console him and the kitten's gesture upset him all the more. "Misaki, why are you comforting me? You're the one who must be suffering the most right now."

"But you loved my brother."

"Takahiro was very dear to me. I never lost anyone I cared about before, but don't be so solicitous that you put your own feelings aside for the sake of mine."

The two dried their tears and Misaki took the shirt from Usagi and quickly put it on. Due to Usagi's superior height, the shirt was more than long enough to cover anything inappropriate and Misaki was pleased that the shirt smelt like Usagi.

"Misaki, your hair is still a bit damp; I'll get the blow dryer."

"You don't have to do that, Usagi-san. It's fine. My hair will dry on its own later."

"No. You might catch a cold, it's winter now."

Misaki was uncomfortable with the older man's fussing, but relented, _"I wish Usagi-san was doing this because he liked me, but he's probably just doing this to be kind and I'm taking advantage of Usagi-san's kindness. I need to be more considerate of Usagi-san. After all, he just lost the most important person in his life."_

Misaki let the man dry his hair and afterwards he took Misaki to the spare room and put him to bed. Since Usagi used to tutor him, Misaki was familiar with the room as he often stayed up late studying and usually spent the night, and nothing had changed in the two years he hadn't been over. "Here, this is Suzuki-san Jr." Usagi said as he handed the stuffed bear over to Misaki.

"You mean one of the hundreds if not thousands of Suzuki-san Jr.s." Misaki muttered.

"Yes, this is one of them; I thought cuddling him might help you feel better. I'm off to buy you a change of clothes for tomorrow." He said as he covered the boy.

"What?" Misaki suddenly felt very anxious about the older man leaving him all alone.

"It's fine, the doors lock automatically and no one can get in without the code and the key."

"Please don't go, Usagi-san." Misaki surprised himself by his own words and he held on to Usagi's sleeve tightly.

"Misaki?"

"P-please." Misaki mumbled as tears started to cloud his eyes again, "Please don't leave me."

"Alright Misaki, I'll stay with you until you fall asleep, okay?"

"Mm." Misaki was grateful with the arrangement that the older Hybrid came up with, but at the same time he was too embarrassed to face the man and he turned over to keep his back to him.

Usagi pulled up a chair and sat down beside the bed before he started to pet Misaki's head, "Usagi-san?"

"I'll pet your head until you fall asleep."

"Okay. Th-thank you." He murmured as he blushed slightly, _"Usagi-san remembered how I liked to have my head petted when I'm upset. Usagi-san always remembers. It's one of the things that really make me fall in love with Usagi-san."_ Misaki thought as the soothing touch of the man lulled him to sleep.

Usagi stayed with the kitten for a moment longer before he stood up and silently left the room. Usagi felt relieved to have the boy safely beside him, but at the same time he was anxious. After all, he was in love with the younger Hybrid. Takahiro knew about Usagi's feelings and encouraged him by revealing that Misaki felt the same way. Usagi knew that if he asked, the kitten would undoubtedly consent to a more adult relationship, but no matter how he looked at it, he couldn't bring himself to do so until the boy turned eighteen. I just didn't seem right to him otherwise.

Misaki was the most precious person in the world to him and he didn't want to force himself on the naïve kitten who was still too young to make such an adult decision. If he tried to date Misaki while the boy was underage he would only be taking advantage of that innocence and warping it into something impure. Because Usagi truly loved Misaki, he had decided long ago that he would wait for him to reach the age of eighteen before he laid a finger on him; however, Takahiro had suspected that Misaki planned to do something once the kitten turned thirteen and told Usagi his suspicions which caused the man to decide to forgo seeing the boy until he reached the suitable age of eighteen.

With Takahiro's passing, Usagi was forced to live with Misaki and he knew that if necessary, he'd have to fend off any of Misaki's 'attacks', and the thought of hurting the kitten's feelings by repeatedly rejecting him, pained Usagi, but at the same time he refused to cave. He was determined to keep his resolve to not touch the boy until he turned eighteen. _"Just three more years. They may not pass quickly but I won't let anything corrupt Misaki's innocence. I'll make sure Misaki gets treated right by dating him properly. And Maybe Misaki will fall for me even more once he realizes how much better it was to wait."_ The man smiled a little at the thought and he cast one more glance up at the spare bedroom door before he reluctantly left the apartment.

Meanwhile, Misaki was dreaming of the day he had first fallen in love with Usagi. Months after meeting the older Hybrid, Misaki was hurrying along to give Takahiro one of the text books he left behind in his rush to make it to school on time. The kitten ran with all his strength to make sure Takahiro was properly prepared for his classes, but the text book was too heavy for the boy and Misaki ended up falling over due to the uneven weight of the book and his own upper body.

Usagi was walking by at the time and saw the kitten on the ground and came up to him, "Misaki?"

"Usagi-san." At the time, Misaki's knee was scrapped and Misaki was trying so hard not to cry in front of the older boy, "Brother forgot his book."

"I'll take it to Takahiro myself, but let's go back and fix your knee."

"But you'll be late for school, Usagi-san."

"You can't possibly walk home like that. I'll take you home and I promise you that being late this once will not have a negative impact on my academics. Besides, Takahiro doesn't need that book now, so it's alright."

Having reassured the kitten, he picked Misaki up and carried him home in his arms. Misaki's mother was gone for the morning though and Usagi had taken it upon himself to tend to the boy's wound. Usagi set Misaki down on the bathroom counter and examined his knee, it was bleeding quite a bit and it was painful to the little kitten. Usagi carefully took Misaki's leg and placed it over the sink so he could run his knee cap under the water and wash the blood off of the rest of his leg. "It looks like there are some debris stuck in your wound. I'll remove them with a Q-tip but it might hurt a bit. I'll turn the water to cold so it'll numb your knee a little bit and it won't hurt so much."

Misaki had still been nervous about the older boy touching the wound even if it was only with a Q-tip. The water stung Misaki's scrape and made him cry out a little, but Usagi purred and petted Misaki's head to soothe the kitten and he gently removed the debris and afterwards he turned the water off and softly patted the wound dry, but it still hurt the boy and he started to cry. "I'm sorry, Usagi-san."

"Why are you apologizing?"

"Because I can't stop crying."

"That's nothing to apologize for."

"But Brother said that I'm a big kitten now and if I'm a big kitten I shouldn't cry over a little scrapped knee."

"Big kittens cry too Misaki. Even I still cried over trivial things when I was an older kitten than you."

"Huh? Really?"

"Yes. But if you still feel embarrassed about it, just know that you can always cry in front of me and I won't tease you for it."

Misaki sniffed and wiped away his tears feeling a bit better for having cried in front of the older boy. Usagi sprayed some disinfectant on the wound and bandaged it firmly but not constrictively. "Does it still hurt, Misa-kitty?"

"A little."

"Well then." Usagi leaned down and planted a soft kiss on the bandage, "There. All better now."

" _Usagi-san?"_ Misaki felt his heart flutter, but he didn't understand why.

Usagi lowered Misaki back down on the ground and Misaki was able to walk around comfortably with the bandage on. "Keep the bandage on and tell your mother what happened, she'll change your bandage for you and make sure it doesn't get infected."

"I will."

"Are you going to be okay by yourself until she comes back?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine. Thank you, Usagi-san."

Usagi ruffled Misaki's hair one more time before he vanished out the door and Misaki watched him leave as his heart continued to pound. Misaki was too young to understand why his heart was racing and he asked Takahiro about it later, "Well it sounds like you have a crush on this person." Takahiro suggested.

As Misaki got older, his feelings for the older Hybrid grew from a simple childish crush to a deep love. However, Misaki noticed how happy Usagi was whenever he spent time with Takahiro and he came to realize that the man he loved was in love with his older brother. Misaki still wondered if the reason why the older man stopped coming around was because Misaki made him feel uncomfortable.

Ever since Misaki started school, Usagi had always helped him with any questions he had and Misaki had actually been at the top of his class, but once Usagi stopped coming around, Misaki let his grades slip thinking it would bring the older Hybrid back, but when it didn't Misaki lost interest in his grades all together as the only reason why he had even excelled in the first place was because he was trying to make Usagi proud of him. Misaki quickly became a D average student and while this upset Takahiro, there was nothing he could do to interest his little brother in his grades again.

When Misaki woke up there was sunlight shining in through his curtain. It was ten in the morning, but he still felt sore and exhausted. He stiffly sat up and saw that Usagi had set out the clothes he got for him on the chair which was still next to his bed. Misaki took off the shirt Usagi let him borrow and sniffed it once more, thankful that it still smelt like Usagi. Misaki stood up and flinched at the pain he felt in his feet, but he was able to redress himself fairly quickly and he felt relieved to be fully clothed once more. _"It's a little embarrassing that he also bought underwear for me though. I wonder how Usagi-san knew my size, although as usual the pants are too long, I'll have to roll them up. One day I'll be much taller and I'll never have to worry about long pant legs again."_

After he was finished, Misaki gingerly left the room and saw Usagi sitting at the coffee table downstairs. His laptop was out and he was sipping on a mug of coffee while watching the screen intently. Usagi's ear flicked upon hearing the sound of the spare bedroom door closing and he turned to see Misaki at the top of the staircase. "Oh, you're awake. Hold on, I'll come get you."

"You don't have to do that."

"You're supposed to stay off of your feet as much as possible while they heal. For now it'll be too painful for you to walk down the stairs."

"I can crawl down."

"Don't be ridiculous." Usagi scoffed as he threw the kitten over his shoulder and carried him down. He placed Misaki on the couch and asked, "Do you want some coffee, Misaki? Or maybe some tea?"

"I'm still a little on edge, I think I should stay away from caffeine for now."

"How about some juice then? Something to help you wake up without making you jittery."

"Yeah, juice will be fine, but Usagi-san, you really don't have to fuss over me."

"It's not like it's any burden on me to take care of you Misaki. You're depressed and traumatized; of course I'm going to do things like this for you."

" _I think I should be the one doing this for Usagi-san. He's probably hurting more than I could even imagine."_ Misaki thought as Usagi poured him a glass of juice.

Misaki sipped on the juice once Usagi handed it to him. "You must be hungry by now. What would you like to have for breakfast? I haven't eaten yet, I pulled an all-nighter for this project and I haven't had a moment to think about food."

"N-no. I'm not really hungry."

"Misaki, you have to eat something. I know you haven't eaten anything since yesterday afternoon, and it's not healthy for you to go without eating for so long."

In truth, Misaki was hungry, but he also felt nauseous at the same time, and he could still feel tremors throughout his body. He didn't trust himself to not get sick. "You should put something in your stomach though. I'll make some rice; that should be easy on your stomach."

"I guess a little bit wouldn't be so bad." Misaki caved, he didn't want Usagi to worry about him.

"We should have a proper meal later, I'll cook omurice later, that should also be pretty easy to digest and it's soft so it's a good comfort food dish."

"Oh, so your cooking skills have gotten better Usagi-san?"

"Well I can make simple dishes, but nothing too complex."

Takahiro had taught Misaki how to cook after their parents died and the boy had taken an interest in cooking, but was horrible at it. Usagi, who came over frequently to babysit Misaki if Takahiro had to work late, was also interested in learning how to cook from his friend. At that time Usagi had moved out of his parents' house and had no idea how to cook anything remotely edible. Takahiro had managed to turn the two terrible cooks into amateur cooks, but Misaki was definitely the better cook and could also bake quite well, while Usagi still struggled over the more complex dishes as he was not a patient man by nature and loved to throw everything together all at once if a recipe was too long for his short attention span.

While the rice was cooking, Usagi sat back down beside Misaki and continued to type. "A new novel?"

"Yes. Would you like to read it?"

"Oh?"

"Takahiro said that you loved reading my books. Actually he said my novels were the only ones that you would read; otherwise you'd have your face stuck in a manga."

"Ah, 'Da Man'!" Misaki perked up upon remembering his favorite manga series, but immediately became disheartened again once he realized he would never see his books again. _"I lost everything. Everything that reminded me of Brother or our parents. Because of my aunt, I can't go back to Brother's apartment to get any of my things because she's probably there. She might have already sold everything already too. All of my memories…"_

Usagi noticed the boy's depression and tried to reassure him, "We'll get your things back after Takahiro's will reading, Misaki."

"Huh?"

"Since your parents died young, Takahiro made a will in the event of his death. I have no doubt that he left you in my care and after the will reading I'll become your legal guardian and then your aunt can't touch you so we'll be able to go get your stuff."

"Really?"

"Yes. I'll make sure that we get your stuff back. I know you were probably concerned about what that woman would do to the family photo albums, but we'll save them and you'll be able to keep those memories."

Misaki felt reassured by the older man, but he still felt like crying, "I really miss Brother, Usagi-san. It still doesn't feel real to me."

"I know, Misa-kitty. I feel that way too. I keep expecting Takahiro to call me at any time, but…" Usagi felt a lump in his throat and let his voice trail off, he didn't want Misaki to become solicitous of his feelings again, "You don't have to hold back Misaki. Remember, I said it was okay for you to cry in front of me." Usagi tried to comfort the kitten as he hugged him tightly and Misaki buried his face in the man's chest.

Usagi purred as he pet the boy's head and after a while, Misaki started to calm down again. "Ah, sorry, Usagi-san. I got your shirt dirty."

"That's fine; I'll just go change it." Usagi shrugged, the condition of his shirt not bothering him at all.

Usagi left to change his shirt, while Misaki continued to drink his juice and tried not to think about his brother. By the time Usagi came back down, Misaki had finished his juice and Usagi drank the last of his coffee so he could wash their dishes. "The rice will be done soon Misaki. Do you think you could eat a small bowl?"

"Yeah that should be fine." Misaki decided.

Usagi dried off the dishes and put them back in the cupboard and took out a small bowl for when the rice was done, but then the doorbell rang and the two froze. "Are you expecting anyone, Usagi-san?"

"My editor, Aikawa-san, she's supposed to come over later on today, but she has a key and yet this person hasn't let themselves in..." Usagi became suspicious, "Misaki stay silent for a moment."

Misaki nodded and Usagi turned on the monitor. "Usami-kun, I demand that you let me in at once!"

Misaki nearly screamed upon hearing the familiar voice of his aunt. Usagi seemed completely unaffected however and simply asked, "What do you want?" his tone sounded uninterested despite having asked.

"I'm looking for Misaki-kun. He ran away from home and I demand to see if he's here!"

Misaki seethed at her lie, but Usagi's composure remained unchanged, "I don't have to prove anything to you. Go away."

"I'm the boy's next of kin, he belongs to me now!"

"That's for Takahiro's will to decide. I don't know where Misaki is, but if he really has run away, you should fill out a missing person's report instead of trying to barge into my apartment unannounced."

"If you don't let me, I won't let you come to Takahiro-kun's funeral!"

The vile woman's threat cause Usagi to be taken aback and upon seeing Usagi's loss of self-confidence, Misaki became afraid again. _"Surely Usagi-san wouldn't miss his last chance to say good-bye to Brother… not even for me."_

Usagi sighed before saying, "Very well, I'll be right there."

He turned the monitor off before he rushed over to the kitten and he picked him up and hurried upstairs to his own room which was littered with toys. There were even toys under the bed. Usagi cleared some room underneath the bed before he shoved the boy in the tight space and replaced the toys, "Stay very quiet Misaki and stay still. I'll come to get you once she leaves, until then don't make a sound or move a muscle no matter how uncomfortable you are, I mean it." Usagi's voice was firm and Misaki was too terrified to do anything but nod in response.

He heard Usagi run back down the stairs and he strained his ears to hear what was going on. He heard his aunt yelling at Usagi but he couldn't understand what she was saying; he also heard her rampaging through the apartment complex searching for him. _"Usagi-san hid me. Usagi-san is trying to keep me safe. I just have to stay still and quiet and I'll be safe."_

Misaki's heart started to race as he heard his aunt coming up the stairs. He listened to her tear apart every room until she eventually reached Usagi's room. Misaki's heart was pounding so hard that it made him want to gasp for breath, but he kept his hands over his mouth to prevent him from making any noises. "This place is a dive! You're twenty something or other, why do you have so many toys? Are you a pedophile?" she sneered.

Misaki wished he could defend the older man, but he didn't dare to move and give himself away. His aunt tore apart the room and searched under the bed to the best of her ability, but didn't find any trace of Misaki. "Call me if you see him."

"Sure thing." Usagi responded dryly as he escorted her out.

Misaki still stayed under the bed and trembled uncontrollably as thoughts of last night crept into his mind. All of those unspeakable horrors displayed before his young eyes. He was so lost in thought, that he hadn't realized Usagi had come to retrieve him until he felt the man's cold hand on his leg. Misaki, having forgotten where he was, screamed in terror until Usagi covered his mouth, "Shh, Misaki, it's okay. It's just me."

"Usagi…?"

"She's gone, it's okay for you to come out." Usagi assured as he pulled the kitten out from under the bed, "Misaki, you're shaking."

"I can't stop."

"That's fine. I'll make you some herbal tea to calm your nerves."

Usagi brought the boy back downstairs and set him down on the couch. Instead of making the tea first, he went to heat up a throw blanket and as the blanket was warming up, he made Misaki's tea. Once the blanket was warmed, he wrapped it over Misaki to help him stop shaking and then handed him the mug of tea. He sat down beside the kitten and placed him in his lap before he enfolded his arms around him and he started to purr and stroke Misaki's head soothingly.

Misaki sipped on the hot tea and enjoyed Usagi's body heat and the softness of the blanket. Misaki started to purr back and the two entwined their tails. One Misaki stopped shaking, Usagi moved away from Misaki to pick up the messy apartment. "Usagi-san, I should help with that. It's my fault she came here anyway."

"You can help me pick up later; right now you're too on edge."

"The tea is making me feel better though."

"You feel better now, but the tea is actually very strong. If it's making you feel calm now then that means you'll probably be asleep soon. Maybe I should put you to bed now before you're too tired to take off your clothes. I also got you a pair of pajamas. I was hoping to take you clothes shopping, but with your aunt out looking for you we'll have to wait until Takahiro's will reading."

"Won't the new clothes be redundant once I get my old clothes back?"

"But you look so cute in the outfit I bought you."

"You always thought I looked cute in anything. I'm not a little kitten anymore you know, I'll be a man soon and men don't like to be called cute."

Usagi laughed out loud at the kitten's statement and Misaki lashed his tail in frustration, "It's not funny! I really will be a man, you'll see!"

"You'll always be a cute kitten to me though because I'm ten years ahead of you." Usagi teased.

"Shuddup!" Misaki muttered.

"Sounds like you're already slurring your words, I'll take you to your room and hand you your new pajamas."

"Usagi-san, did you spend all night buying me clothes and washing them for me to use today?"

"No, I also worked on my novel." He reminded the boy.

Usagi placed Misaki on the bed and handed the boy his pajamas to put on. While Misaki put them on, Usagi folded Misaki's clothes and put them back on the chair in case the kitten woke up and it was still day time. When Misaki finished dressing, Usagi covered the boy up and handed him Suzuki-san Jr. to cuddle again. Misaki found the stuffed bear to be oddly comforting somehow.

Misaki asked Usagi to stay with him until he fell asleep again, and the man complied. When Misaki woke up again, it was four in the afternoon, and he was pretty hungry; never having eaten the rice Usagi had made for breakfast. He put his day clothes back on and as he was changing he heard voices down stairs, and his anxiety returned. He quietly opened the door and peeked outside. He saw Usagi sitting on the couch and on the couch across from him, he saw a gorgeous red haired woman. _"Wow. She's really pretty. Is she Usagi-san's editor? Or maybe his girlfriend?"_ that last thought caused jealousy to well up inside of Misaki.

" _The do seem pretty close… she looks a few years older than him… Oh! She has a tail! She's a Hybrid too?"_ Misaki became interested and decided to try crawling down for a closer look.

It was rare to see Hybrids. Misaki was a first generation Hybrid, his parents and even Takahiro were all human, Usagi was a third generation Hybrid and he and the Usami family and some family friends had been the only other Hybrids Misaki had seen until last night, so the sudden appearance of another Hybrid greatly fascinated him. Misaki tried to stand up without being seen, but Usagi caught the sudden movement out of the corner of his eye. "Ah, Misaki, did you crawl down the stairs? You should have told me that you were up I would have carried you down."

"I'm fine."

"Oh, by the way, this is my editor with Marukawa, Aikawa Eri. This is my soon to be ward, Takahashi Misaki."

"Hello, Misaki-kun. Sensei has told me so much about you. I brought over a treat for you." Eri handed him a box, "They're donuts."

"Ah! Thank you very much Aikawa-san!" Misaki eagerly took the donuts from her, "Brother used to buy donuts—" Misaki stopped himself abruptly and he realized he would never again be able to sit down with his brother and share donuts again. _"I want Brother back. Why does everyone I love leave me? Will Usagi-san leave me too?"_

"Misaki."

Upon hearing Usagi's voice, Misaki realized that he had once again been crying. He quickly wiped his tears away and Usagi hugged the boy firmly from behind. "Misaki-kun, I heard about your brother, I'm sorry for your loss."

"Thank you." Misaki sniffed as he calmed down, "It's fine though; I need to start getting used to doing everyday things again." Misaki plastered a smile on his face that felt painful, but he held onto it.

"Maybe donuts are too rich for you to have right now." Usagi pointed out.

"But the best time to eat donuts is when they are fresh. I'll be fine, Usagi-san. Aikawa-san, why don't you eat some with us?"

"That would be lovely, thank you, Misaki-kun."

The three Hybrids sat down at the kitchen table, and while the two adults had coffee with their donuts, Usagi gave Misaki milk as the kitten was still a bit jittery. Misaki ate slowly and carefully to make sure that the donuts didn't make him sick. Once he felt satisfied with a full stomach he stopped eating and he felt much better finally having eaten. Eri finished her meeting with Usagi and took her leave. Usagi placed Misaki in the T.V. room to pass the time while he continued to work on his novel.

When Misaki felt tired enough, he told Usagi that he wanted to shower and Usagi helped the kitten shower and then changed Misaki's bandages. That time when Usagi put him to bed, Misaki didn't ask Usagi to stay with him, as he wanted the man to focus on his work instead of comforting him. "By the way, Misaki." Usagi took out a cell phone he had purchased for the boy last night and had set up for him, "My number is already in here."

"Thank you." Misaki accepted the phone from the man.

"Call me if you need anything."

"I will." Misaki assured and the older Hybrid left the room.

" _I can't keep taking advantage of Usagi-san's kindness. Usagi-san loved Brother, not me. It'll never be me. I can't dishonor my brother's memory by trying to make Usagi-san fall in love with me now. I just have to accept that this is as close to Usagi-san as I'll ever be. But to show my gratitude to Usagi-san I'll do all of the house chores and when I'm old enough I'll look for a part time job so I can help Usagi-san financially too. Maybe this will make me a little more precious to Usagi-san?"_ Misaki thought as he drifted off to sleep again.


	3. Chapter 3

After escaping, Ritsu found himself in a park. It was dark out, and he was cold, and his feet were hurting him, but he refused to stop until he was absolutely certain that no one was following him. The only thing that caused him to finally halt was when he accidently collided with a person and the force of the impact knocked him down.

"Are you okay?" the stranger asked as he offered his hand to the terrified Hybrid.

As Ritsu looked up he was surprised to see that the strange man he hit was another Hybrid, "Pl-please help me."

The other Hybrid seemed to suddenly realize Ritsu's lack of clothes and he pulled out his cell phone and used the flash light on it to get a better view of the Hybrid who looked emaciated and had badly cut feet. The Hybrid realized immediately what Ritsu's predicament was, "Come with me, I'll get you to a clinic." He urged still holding out his hand to Ritsu.

Ritsu wasn't sure if he could trust the older Hybrid, but he knew that his adrenaline rush had fully flickered out and he had no other option if he hoped to escape the men who had held him captive for so many years. Accepting the man's hand, he pulled the Chimera up and then picked him up before he swiftly moved to his nearby car where he placed Ritsu in the back seat so he could hide and the older man handed Ritsu his jacket to cover up with.

As they drove away, the man suddenly asked, "By the way, what is your name?"

"R-Ritsu. Onodera Ritsu."

Hearing that name caused the older Hybrid to slam on his breaks suddenly and Ritsu heard the man's breathing become shaky. He nearly cried out in surprise when the Hybrid turned on the inside car lights and grabbed his face. Ritsu felt uncomfortable at being stared at by the man, but when he looked into the Hybrid's warm brown eyes, he was certain he had seen the man before.

"Do you know me?"

"N-no." Ritsu still was unsure if he had ever actually met the Hybrid before.

"My name is Takano Masamune. My parents divorced before I graduated high school, my name used to be Saga Masamune. Is that name familiar?"

"Saga? S-Saga-sempai!" Ritsu suddenly felt a clarity wash over him.

He recalled his first love vividly; raven black hair, light brown eyes, an aloof demeanor, a low quite voice, soft lips, hot body temperature, gentle hands, and… Ritsu's heart fluttered upon realizing that the man who rescued him was none other than his lover from high school. _"He looks a bit different now, he's a little older, and his voice is deeper, and he's wearing glasses now; I think his scent is slightly different, probably because he's living alone now, but I'm certain that this man is Saga-sempai."_ To confirm his theory, Ritsu brushed Masamune's bangs aside to reveal the large, nasty scar on the left side of his forehead from when Masamune had tried so hard to save him. Realizing that he was back with his lover made the tears flow freely from Ritsu's eyes.

Masamune also noted Ritsu's features, before his lover had been so cute and naïve, but currently all innocence had vanished from his eyes probably years ago. Ritsu had also lost a lot of weight and was undoubtedly malnourished, his hair was the same color but much longer and horribly matted due to neglect; he had no doubt that they'd have to cut off his hair and let it regrow. While his eyes lost the spark they once had, they were still the same shade of light green he remembered. _"I finally found him, my Ritsu."_ Masamune nearly cried but he pushed his emotions aside, _"I can celebrate later, I need to get him to a clinic now."_

During the ride, Ritsu recalled the day he was taken. He had been dating Masamune for a few months and the two normally hung out at the library until closing if Masamune's parents were home, as Masamune didn't want Ritsu to listen to his parents' marriage falling apart. On that day, Ritsu wondered if Masamune would seduce him in the library again as he had the past couple of days. While Ritsu had been concerned that they would be caught one day, Masamune seemed unfazed, but at that moment he was entirely focused on their current study session.

Ritsu was having trouble with his history project and decided to take a look at some books for reference. As he moved towards the book shelves he noticed the library door was open, _"That's odd, usually the door is closed. Is it jammed perhaps? If Saga-sempai does anything to me, with the door open like that, someone is bound to see it if they just happen to be walking by. I need to fix that door."_

Ritsu stepped outside the library to try pushing the door close, but the moment he stepped out into the hall, a large strange man grabbed him. Ritsu knew that as a Hybrid, he was more likely to be kidnapped than humans and he immediately assumed the man's intentions, "Saga-sempai!" Ritsu cried out for his lover to save him.

Masamune appeared nearly instantly and attacked the man who held the boy captive. For a moment it did seem that Masamune would win against the man as he wasn't able to fight back without letting go of Ritsu, but neither had noticed the second man who caught Masamune off guard and hit the older Hybrid hard in the head with a fire extinguisher. The impact knocked Masamune out cold instantly and he fell to the ground seemingly lifeless. Ritsu hadn't been certain at the time whether they had killed Masamune as he didn't see him breathing and a pool of blood started to flow from his head; the men didn't allow Ritsu the opportunity to check on his lover either, as they gagged and tied him up before they dragged him out of the nearly deserted school.

" _I really thought they had killed him at the time, and yet I kept assuring myself that he was alive…"_ Ritsu's tears seemed endless as he tried to wipe them away, "I thought they had killed you back then."

"No, I refused to die because if I did then I couldn't save you, though I suppose I failed to do so after all."

"You did save me though. The thought that I'd be back with you was the only thing that kept me going. I only escaped because I wanted to see you again. I really thought they killed you but I didn't want to believe it. What happened to you after that?"

Masamune didn't respond for a while, but when he did, Ritsu thought the man sounded quieter than before, "Let's talk about that later."

Ritsu fell silent and the drive continued with an awkward air about them until they got to the clinic. Masamune carried Ritsu inside and set him down on a chair while he went to gather the papers they needed to fill out. Masamune helped Ritsu fill out the forms to the best of his ability, but they hadn't filled out much before they were called back. Masamune was about to let Ritsu go alone for privacy, but Ritsu clinged to him desperately and Masamune stayed with him.

The doctor looked over Ritsu thoroughly upon hearing that the young man had been a victim of sex trafficking. She checked Ritsu's vitals, examined him and tested him for S.T.I.s and took care of his injured feet which were in need of several stitches. Ritsu was obviously uncomfortable, but having Masamune there with him and encouraging him made the process a bit easier. She gave Ritsu several shots and a few pills to make sure that he didn't catch anything later on, "I don't see any signs of S.T.I.s, I am of course seeing signs of sexual trauma though, but just to be on the safe side I'll give you the medicine anyway."

She also confirmed what Masamune thought and said that Ritsu's hair was too matted to keep and she took it upon herself to trim his hair, not shaving him completely, but not leaving him with much hair left. Before she let them go, she requested to have an ultra sound done to check Ritsu's womb.

Masamune recalled that back in high school, Ritsu had told him that he was a Chimera, but as Chimeras could only have one litter, he wondered if Ritsu was still a Chimera. The ultra sound did show that Ritsu still had his womb even after nearly a decade of sexual abuse, and she explained that Ritsu was likely infertile despite being a Chimera, "The organs themselves don't look unhealthy so it's probably a blockage of some sort. If you do wish to be fertile then there's an operation and some treatments you can try when you decide you do want to have a litter, there would be some more tests involved though."

Ritsu didn't respond. In high school he had always wanted to have a litter with  
Masamune, but while he was being brutally raped so many times he hoped that he was infertile, _"I wished for it and I got it. I'm a terrible person for regretting this now."_

"I'll call in a few days with the results from the tests I took, but we're done for now so I'll go ahead and call a shelter for him."

"No! I wanna go home with Takano-san!" Ritsu clung to the man once more.

"Is that alright for him to come home with me? He's not mentally stable." Masamune tried to calm the Hybrid down by stroking his head softly

"Well so long as he's not a danger to himself or others he doesn't have to be committed, and he's not very healthy right now, but it's not severe enough for him to be hospitalized. But if you're still reluctant I can call the shelter."

"No. If he feels safe with me than I'll take him."

"Very well. I'll call you in a few days once I get the results back from the tests. Before you leave I can give him a mild tranquilizer to keep him calm. I would also recommend him seeing a therapist."

"Do you have any one in mind specifically?"

"I can give you a referral for one who specializes in cases like Onodera-san's."

"Thank you." Masamune nodded before he looked down to Ritsu, "Ritsu, do you want to accept the tranquilizer? Do you think you can calm yourself down?"

"M-maybe I should take the tranquilizer." He mumbled in response.

After a few minutes they left the clinic and drove in silence for quite some time before Masamune decided to see if Ritsu was still with him, "Are you feeling okay, Ritsu?"

Ritsu clearly hadn't been expecting Masamune to speak as he flinched upon hearing his voice and his grip on Masamune's coat tightened; he had refused to wear the scrubs the doctor had offered him, as if Masamune's coat was the only thing that kept him grounded, "Ah, I'm okay I guess. I am feeling a bit sleepy though."

"Undoubtedly it's a combination of the tranquilizer and all you've been through."

"This is the first time I've felt this safe…"

Ritsu's voice trailed off and Masamune changed the subject hoping to spare Ritsu from the past, "I'll stop by the convenience store to grab some underwear for you and tomorrow I'll go get you some proper clothes and some shoes. You should stay at my apartment and try to rest."

"You're going to leave me?" Ritsu was suddenly alarmed, despite the tranquilizer.

"It won't be for long, but you won't be alone, I'll have my good friend Kirishima come over to look after you, but if you start to feel uncomfortable while I'm gone just call me and I'll come back as fast as I can, okay?"

Ritsu still didn't look comfortable at the idea of Masamune leaving, but he knew it was necessary, "Okay." He murmured.

Once the short stop to the convenience store was out of the way, Masamune drove Ritsu to his building and carried him inside of the apartment, "This is my apartment. I've been living here for quite a few years."

Ritsu looked around the place as Masamune carried him around. While it was not a large apartment, it also wasn't cramped, and it was neatly organized, and best of all it smelt like Masamune, _"It already feels like home to me."_

"Are you hungry, Ritsu? I can make something light for you to eat."

"N-no. I'm really tired though, can we go to bed?"

"Yes, I don't mind; I know it's been a long night for you." Masamune agreed, "First let's take a shower, I'm sure it'll help you feel better."

"Mm." Ritsu was anxious to shower and try to wash the filth of the other men off of him.

Due to his injured feet, Masamune had to help Ritsu shower, but the younger Hybrid didn't mind and after drying off, Masamune gave Ritsu a shirt to wear for the night. It had been a long time since Ritsu had worn clothes and while the sensation of cloth against his skin again felt odd it also felt very reassuring. By the time Masamune had put Ritsu to bed, he was almost asleep, but sensing Masamune about to leave his side, Ritsu jolted awake, "You're going to leave?"

"Only for a moment, Ritsu; I want to call Kirishima before it gets any later. It's alright if you fall asleep though, you should try to get as much rest as you can."

Ritsu accepted Masamune's response and let the man go to make the call. "Masamune? What is it? This is a very late hour to be calling." Kirishima Takafumi groaned on the other end.

"I found him."

"What?"

"I found Ritsu."

Takafumi didn't say anything for the longest time until he finally found his voice once more, "How is he?"

"He's still alive, but…" Masamune hated how much the men that abducted him had changed him, and it was a very raw wound that burned to pick at.

"I imagine he's very ill and traumatized." Takafumi acknowledged.

"He is mentally unstable and he's all skin and bone… his hair was so matted it had to be cut off and he's malnourished." Masamune fought to keep his voice steady, "I was able to take him home though, despite that."

"That's good."

"I need to get him some clothes though. I can't leave him alone though, not in that state."

"So you want me to look after him?"

"Can you?"

"I was going to come over anyway to drop off Sorata before my business trip on Monday I don't see why I can't expend a few hours."

"Just remember that he is very fragile right now—"

"I know, Masamune. Don't worry; I know how to handle those like him, thanks to my in-laws line of work."

"Thank you." Masamune disconnected the call and returned to his bedroom, hoping that Ritsu would already be sleeping.

It appeared that Ritsu had tried to stay up for Masamune but failed and had fallen asleep in an awkward position, "Don't sleep like that now, you'll feel all stiff in the morning." Masamune scolded softly as he maneuvered the younger Hybrid into a much more comfortable sleeping position.

Ritsu didn't stir and Masamune settled in bed next to him before gently cuddling the younger man to him, "I'll never let you go again, Ritsu." Masamune murmured as he allowed himself to drift off as well.

The next morning Ritsu jerked awake upon seeing his unfamiliar surroundings, _"Where is this?"_

"Oh you're awake." Masamune suddenly entered the room.

" _It wasn't a dream then? I really am here with Saga—er no, Takano-san."_

"Are you okay, Ritsu? You look pale." Masamune surprised the Hybrid by softly placing his hand on the side of Ritsu's face and gently stroking his cheek with his thumb.

Ritsu blushed darkly and his heart sped up as he started to feel very hot, "Y-yeah. I'm fine."

"I'm making breakfast; I want you to eat a little bit, we have to start slowly reintroducing food into your system."

"Mm."

For breakfast, Masamune gave Ritsu a small portion of rice and a little bit of egg and cheese for protein. "Wow! The rice is so soft and fluffy Takano-san, and the food is so warm!" Ritsu beamed.

"Don't eat it too fast; you'll get sick if you do."

"I won't."

"Would you like something to drink? I'm having coffee but I think you should stay away from caffeine for a while. How about some ginger tea?"

"Okay."

"Kirishima should be over after breakfast, he's bringing Sorata with him. Do you remember Sorata?"

"Oh, that cat right? The black and white kitten I saw you rescue? You still have him?"

"Cats do live for a long time with proper care. I share him with Kirishima now though."

"Why is that?"

"While searching for you, I was unable to properly take care of him. I met Kirishima in college and we became friends and he suggested that I allow him to take care of him. Eventually Sorata became attached to him, and since Kirishima had a family who were able to spend more time with him than I was, I decided to let Kirishima keep him, but he said that Sorata missed me and so we've been sharing him."

"You were really looking for me for all these years?"

"Of course. Did you think I'd ever give up on you?"

Ritsu went silent as his heart started to beat harder, _"He really did try to find me the whole time."_ Ritsu found his voice once more, "S-so is that why you were in that area?"

"Since that day I had been going to all of the most deplorable areas in Japan to find you. I've found many brothels with kidnapped Hybrids, but I never found you. I've searched Tokyo before so I never expected you to end up here."

"Yeah, they moved me around a lot… I guess they'd have to in order to make sure no one recognized me as the heir to my parents' company." Recalling those unpleasant memories made Ritsu's hands shake and his chest began to feel tight.

"Ritsu, you don't have to talk about what happened if you don't want to, but if you ever need me I'll always be here for you." Masamune assured as he softly stroked Ritsu's hair.

Ritsu allowed the older Hybrid's words to sink in for a moment before he spoke up again, "Takano-san, what happened after they took me?"

"What do you mean?"

"What happened to you? You said you'd tell me today."

"Maybe it'll be better to tell you after Kirishima's visit."

"Why?"

"I don't want you to get worked up over something like that before Kirishima comes over."

"Did something really bad happen?"

Masamune remained silent for a long time, but the quiet was disturbed by the sound of the door being unlocked and footsteps coming forward. Ritsu froze in place upon seeing a large and intimidating Hybrid entering the apartment. "Masamune, I brought Sorata and his food, the kind you give him is too rich, he's getting fat."

"He's already fat."

"He is not; his fur is just thickening up for the winter." Takafumi then noticed Ritsu, "So this is Onodera?"

"Yes. Ritsu, are you okay?"

"Huh?" hearing Masamune suddenly refer to him, pulled Ritsu out of his trance and he realized he had been clinging to Masamune's shirt so tightly that his knuckles had turned ghostly pale, and his body was shaking, and he was wheezing, "Ah, s-sorry." Ritsu quickly released the man and sipped his tea nervously.

"Ritsu, this is Kirishima Takafumi. Kirishima, this is Onodera Ritsu."

"I suppose I should have announced myself first. I hadn't realized he'd be up by now." Takafumi apologized as he set Sorata down.

"Well I'll head out now that you're here. His feet were cut up from escaping so you'll have to carry him around."

"Ah! Th-that's fine I'll walk."

"Don't be ridiculous; you can't get anywhere on those feet with all the stitches they put in."

"I don't mind." Takafumi also added expressionlessly.

"B-but it just seems so inconvenient."

"It's fine." They both assured, exasperated.

"Really it's nothing to be embarrassed about. Would you prefer to crawl everywhere instead? That would be hardly dignifying either." Takafumi pointed out.

Ritsu had a feeling that the man was trying to be gentle, but his stern face and intimidating aura was doing little to put him at ease; still, knowing that the man was a Hybrid as well made him feel a little less suspicious. "Here's my cell number, Ritsu." Masamune handed him a slip of paper, "If you get too anxious while I'm gone just call me and I'll come straight home."

"Okay." Ritsu nodded.

Ritsu did feel anxious as he watched Masamune leave, but he tried to keep his attention on his food instead. "So you're the heir to Onodera Publications?"

"Y-yeah… um, h-how are my parents doing?"

"Hmm… well they are convinced that you're dead."

"Huh?"

"Five years back there was a Hybrid found, it was your height a build and seemed to resemble you, but anything that could have identified it had been destroyed as the body had been burnt to a crisp and the person who committed the crime had the clever idea to knock out the teeth of the Hybrid as well. Your parents were quite exhausted at the time and I suppose they accepted the idea that you really were gone. That wasn't enough for Masamune though; he kept looking for you when everyone else chose to give up. You should really contact your parents soon though. They should know you're okay."

"I will… I'm just… I'm not ready to see them again just yet."

"That's fine. You should do everything at your own pace, but don't put it off for too long."

"I won't."

"Still, I was surprised he continued to search so steadfastly, especially since his health hadn't been so good at the time."

"Huh?"

"Oh, did he not tell you?"

"Is there something wrong with Takano-san?"

"Not really anymore, but I won't go into the details. He should be the one to tell you, I won't talk about him behind his back."

"Ah…" Ritsu fell silent for a moment before he recalled that Masamune had told him that Takafumi had a family, "S-so you have a family? Takano-san mentioned that."

"Mm. I'm a Chimera, or at least I was. I was pregnant at eighteen and it was hard to juggle college life and child rearing. My boyfriend at the time, Zen, he married me upon learning I was pregnant as he wanted the kitten to be born in wedlock. I agreed, I always planned to marry him anyway, being pregnant just hurried the inevitable."

"So you became pregnant on accident?"

"Zen and I started out as drinking buddies, I guess you could say. There were moments where we'd get black out drunk and have sex without protection, and I knew it would happen sooner or later."

"So you have a kitten?"

"Yes. Rather than a litter, I only had the one kitten, her name is Hiyori." Takafumi took out his cell phone and revealed a picture of the young girl.

"She's a very cute kitten."

"She looks just like Zen, she even has his personality."

"Doesn't that make you a little sad though?"

"No, not at all. I love Zen so of course I would want to see as much of him as I can in our kitten. I'm not so much of a narcissist that I would get upset about her not resembling me."

"Ah, y-yeah. I see what you mean."

"Masamune said you're a Chimera too."

"Yes, I still am, but I'm not fertile."

"Sorry. I shouldn't have mentioned something so personal."

"N-no, it's fine. It was a blessing in disguise at the time." Ritsu mumbled.

Another moment of silence descended on them before Takafumi broke it once more, "Do you want any more tea?"

"Huh?"

"Your cup is empty."

"Oh, so it is."

"I'll get you some more. What were you drinking before?"

"Ginger tea."

"Maybe you should have something more relaxing while Masamune is gone."

Takafumi made Ritsu some more tea, but it made the younger Hybrid tired and Takafumi had to carry him to the bed which made both of them slightly uncomfortable. When Masamune returned Ritsu was still in bed and Takafumi took his leave. Masamune was hesitant to wake Ritsu up, but he did want the Hybrid properly dressed and he was sure that Ritsu would feel better if he was, "Ritsu. Wake up."

Ritsu stirred awake after a few shoulder shakes and flinched at first until Masamune came properly into view, "It's okay Ritsu, it's just me."

"Ah, Takano-san. Where's Kirishima-san?"

"He left already. Was he kind to you?"

"Yes, he was. S-sorry I wasn't able to say a proper good-bye to him after all he did."

"It's fine, he's a busy man."

"What does he do?"

"He's in the sales department at the publishing company we work at."

"You work in a publishing company, Takano-san?"

"Yes, I'm the editor-in-chief at Marukawa's Emerald department."

"What do they do?"

"Shōjo manga."

"Really? You like working with shōjo manga?"

"Is that odd?"

"Ah, no, forget I said anything."

"Well I have some clothes for you. I'm going to wash them first, are you hungry though? Did you finish your breakfast?"

"Yes I did. Kirishima-san made me some calming tea and I felt tired so I decided to go to bed."

"That's good you should rest as much as you can."

"I do feel hungry now though."

"Alright, I'll make something. Do you want to stay in bed and doze for a while longer or would you like to sit out on the couch?"

"The couch would be fine." Ritsu didn't want to let Masamune leave his line of sight.

Masamune carried Ritsu out to the couch before placing his new clothes in the wash machine and then he started cooking while Sorata kept Ritsu company. Ritsu watched Masamune in silence for a moment before saying, "Kirishima-san told me about my parents."

"Oh? I was hoping to ease you back into the world."

"W-well I'm still not ready to see them just yet."

"That's fine. I won't mention anything to them about you either. We'll go at your pace."

"Th-thank you."

"What else did Kirishima tell you?"

"He mentioned that you were sick for a while, he didn't go into details though."

"Sick? Well I guess you could call it that."

"So what did happen to you? Tell me already!"

Masamune paused for a moment before he decided to speak, "The blow to my head from the fire extinguisher gave me a concussion. I'm sure you guessed that much, but I also suffered from some long term effects."

"There are long term effects?"

"There can be depending on how severe the blow is. In my case, it ended up affecting my vision, that's why I wear glasses now. Well I don't always wear them, but if I'm driving or working I wear them. Then there are the mental side effects as well, I'm prone to mood swings and I do have depression. I also get migraines occasionally but I've gotten used to working through them."

" _That happened to Takano-san just because he was trying to protect me."_ Ritsu realized sadly.

"Ritsu, what happened to me wasn't your fault. Honestly it was a miracle I didn't end up in a coma. I don't mind a few afflictions and I've been able to manage my depression well. Now that I have you back, I already feel much better; my depression and mood swings might have actually had more to do with losing you than the concussion."

" _It's like Takano-san read my mind. Was it so obvious that I was feeling that way?"_

"It's fine so don't agonize over it. The only thing that matters to me is that I have you back now." Masamune assured as he moved Ritsu to the table.

Ritsu nodded absentmindedly but seemed to perk up once Masamune handed him a plate of omurice. "Omurice?"

"Do you not like Omurice?"

"Ah, no. I don't mind."

"I thought it would be nutritious and a bit easy on your stomach. Don't try to eat it all if you can't though."

"I won't." Ritsu felt his face grow slightly warm as he looked down fondly at the omelet, _"How long has it been since I last had omurice? Did Takano-san ever cook something for me while we were going out? I only recall going to fast food restaurants occasionally. Still it was fun because I got to eat with him_ , _though I never learned how to order on my own."_

Ritsu nibbled slowly on the omurice as he thought back to high school before he had been kidnapped but after he had confessed to Masamune, _"We only went out for a few months before I was taken, but that was the best time of my life. I never thought he'd agree to go out with me, and I knew at first that he wasn't really interested in dating me, but I was certain I could win him over. I wonder if I may be causing problems for him. Was that why Kirishima-san wanted me to meet with my parents? So I could move back in with them and stop bothering Takano-san?"_

As his mood became depressive, Ritsu lost his appetite and set down his silverware, an action that Masamune noticed, "Ritsu? Are you not hungry anymore?"

"Y-yeah, sorry."

"It's nothing to apologize for, I knew you wouldn't be able to eat all of it, but I had been hoping you would at least be able to handle half of it."

"S-sorry."

"You apologized a lot back then too, but seriously you don't have to apologize all the time."

"You remembered that?"

"I remember a lot of things we did in high school, I wouldn't forget about the person I love."

"You love me?"

"Are you an idiot? Who searches for someone they don't love for so many years? And the night I took your virginity I told you I loved you."

"That was real? I thought I imagined that!"

"You are an idiot." Masamune realized as he pinned his ears back and his tail drooped.

"Hey!"

Masamune smirked as the younger Hybrid bristled, and Ritsu found himself feeling better, "I think I'll try eating a bit more."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah I'm okay."

"The clothes should be done in the washer by now, I'll put some in the dryer and I'll hang up the rest."

"That's such a waste of electricity."

"It can't be helped you need something to wear for tonight. I do think I might have bought a bit too much, but I wanted you to have some variety. The pants might be a bit big on you, but you'll be gaining weight anyway and you can just wear a belt until then."

"Thank you." Ritsu mumbled as he began to blush again.

Masamune left Ritsu to eat a little bit more and loaded the dryer with wet clothes. When he returned, Ritsu had decided not to eat anymore and Masamune finished the omurice for Ritsu knowing the younger man would bemoan the wasted food if he didn't.

After showering together, Ritsu's clothes were dry and Masamune presented them to the younger Hybrid. "You really did get too much."

"Maybe, but are they to your liking?"

"Yeah, that's not the issue. You didn't have to do so much for me."

"It wasn't a problem. I love you so I didn't feel like it was a burden to get all of these for you."

"Well thank you." Ritsu's voice was barely audible.

Masamune helped Ritsu get dressed and Ritsu savored the feeling of being properly clothed again. After he was kidnapped they hadn't given him any clothes and he felt so vulnerable being completely naked, which was probably one of the points of them doing that, being clothed made him feel a little bit safer and he almost felt normal.

"Are you tired? Would you like to rest some more?"

"Ah, y-yeah, that would be nice."

"Alright, I'll tuck you in."

"You really don't have to do that!"

"I want to do it though. I really don't want to let you out of my sight; I don't want you to disappear again." Masamune hugged the younger man tightly and Ritsu returned his hug.

Masamune was encouraged by the gesture and decided to kiss him. Ritsu moaned and Masamune deepened the kiss. As the kiss became more passionate between the two, Masamune laid Ritsu down on the bed; he remained on top of the Hybrid and the two began to try to remove the other's shirt. Masamune, finally freeing Ritsu of his shirt, ran his hand softly up the younger man's torso. Ritsu felt himself growing even more aroused, but a flash back quickly seized him and he recalled all the times he had been held down and forcefully taken. Ritsu forgot where he was and as panic set in, he cried out, "St-stop!" before he roughly shoved Masamune away.

Masamune quickly got off of Ritsu and pulled him up to a sitting position, "Ritsu, it's okay." He tried to soothe the younger man who was hyperventilating and glancing wildly around the room.

"S-sorry." Ritsu felt flooded with shame at the way he had acted upon being touched by the man he loved so much.

"Don't apologize, it wasn't your fault. I got too carried away."

"No, you didn't do anything wrong." Ritsu felt tears threatening his eyes, _"Why did I have to do that to Takano-san? Why did I push away the man I love, the one I know would never hurt me?"_

Masamune held the Hybrid tightly once more, "Don't cry, Ritsu. I know that all those painful memories won't go away just because you're with me now, but remember that I will always protect you. I won't let anyone hurt you again."

Ritsu hugged Masamune back and buried his face in the older Hybrid's chest, "Will you stay with me until I fall asleep?"

"I don't mind if that is what you want."

"Mm."

Masamune helped Ritsu slide into bed and he cuddled the younger man to him and nuzzled his ear, "I love you, Ritsu."

Ritsu squeezed the older man, but was too worried about his voice breaking with emotion to respond. Ritsu fell asleep almost instantly and rather than leave, Masamune decided to stay with him to ensure that his lover wouldn't be anxious when he woke up.

After a week had gone by, Ritsu seemed to have developed a few disorders as a result of his time as a sex slave. He had night terrors, frequent flash backs, and anxiety attacks so severe that he often got sick and wasted the food he had just eaten. He also couldn't seem to bear the thought of stepping outside and would break down screaming if he got too close to the door.

Masamune had called the therapist the doctor at the clinic had recommended and they prescribed some medication for Ritsu after a long house call, which helped a bit but Ritsu still couldn't handle trying to go outside; the only room the Hybrid seemed to feel comfortable in was the bedroom which he rarely left. Masamune didn't mind Ritsu staying in the bedroom so much as he wanted the younger man to rest as much as possible. Masamune still had to work though, but he always made sure Ritsu had everything he needed before he left.

The only good news the two had received was that all of Ritsu's tests came back as negative, but Ritsu wasn't surprised as the Hybrids were frequently tested for S.T.I.s since Hybrids were rare to come by they were extremely valuable and if one became ill it was always a huge problem for the traffickers to deal with as they couldn't very well dispose of the Hybrid without another one to replace it.

Masamune remained thankful for the small things though and he didn't mind waiting for Ritsu to get better; to him the most important thing was that his lover was with him again, and he didn't mind waiting no matter how many therapy sessions or medications it took.

* * *

* Sorry for the delayed chapter I had to do a few rewrites first but here it is! By the way the 3rd season of Junjo Romantica is now available for pre-order on Rightstuf and will be released on Aug 7th! So if you're like me and love non-bootlegged goods head on over and submit your pre-orders! I already did!


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